"Well, do you want to stretch that strategical muscle and find the best way back to camp and report what we've found, haha?" 'Anni' asked, pointing out how her younger sister was the Daughter of the Shepherd's Late Tactician..

"That's- Not so bad, actually, seeing if we keep to cover...." Lin responded, surveying the immediate area and the way to the camp- Which lay in the ruins of Yisstol- The sprawling city now home to broken down buildings and structures, with Risen roaming around the streets.

--

After an hour of working their way through Yisstol and to the Castle, the two had made it to the outside gate of the small encampment, fallen debris being the aforementioned 'gate'. The two hopped over the debris, slipping past the few preset traps, and soon enough they were in the small clearing- With only a few tents tents, the encampment was small, to say the least.

"Glad to see you two made it back." a familiar blue haired royal said- Lucina emerging from her tent, hearing the two walking into the encampment.

"There's tons of Risen outside the city, and active, too. Leaving today might be a problem, while the ones in the city are being a bit restless- It's not the best for us, no matter what..." Lin analyzed for Annette, clutching a tome in her hands.

"Hm, we'll have to decide soon, or else everyone here will be doomed." the young Exalt grimaced, the other tents being filled with survivors from the original attack Grima launched. Gods, it was a slaughter...

"We could take the Escape Route Emmeryn had under the Castle- It was built to stay intact in disasters..." Annette pondered, the idea suddenly popping into her mind.

"It's an idea... We blockaded the area ever sine we got here though... The Throne Room is filled with Risen that were on the Exalt's Royal Guard..." Lucina recalled, frowning. This was going to be hard, if they did it.

"...We could stick to the shadows when we go, and sneak around the Risen, we might need to cause a diversion or two, but we should be fine if we play it safe, I bet." Lin chirped i again, looking over t the general direction of the area in question. The Tactician remembered going there whenever she was younger with her Father, whenever Chrom was still alive, and the Risen weren't such a threat...

"She's right, we can easily distract some of the Risen... I'm fast enough, and she can use her bow, not to mention she's fast too... A Trickster and an Assassin, huh?" Annette smiled, putting hr finger up to her lip- A sort of hardwired habit from her Mother.

"I'm putting my fate into your hands. I'll have us mobilize at dawn, be ready."

--

At dawn, as stated before Lucina had the group of Survivors- About 20 in total, ready to move. During the night Annette had lightened the rubble making it easier to move. The Convoy followed behind, wheeled by a few people who volunteered, the strongest ones in the group, as others were nearly starving or worse.

The moaning of Risen got louder as they neared the Throne Rom in the castle. Young children were scared to near death as they got near- Their mothers comforting them, while some were asked to be brave by their Fathers, this wasn't going to be fun... One wrong move, and they were all dead.

Lucina lead the group forwards as Annette and Lin moved apart.

"May Naga smile on us..." Lucina solemnly said, as the tow were about to part.

"Heh, see you in the tunnel system." Annette grinned, then silently disembarked with Lin.

The room itself was a large open area- Now separated by large marble pillars smashed into the ground, and Moaning Hordes of Risen. The throne was in the back of the room, centered in the middle. The tunnel was right behind it, with a large enough opening for about one third of the group to get into at once.

Their plan was to move around the left side of the room, hiding in shadows, and behind fallen structures as much as possible, they hoped to make it as fast as possible, best case? Probably 20 minutes. Worst case? They wouldn't even make it. Lucina slowly led the group, Falchion drawn in preparation.

The main group had made it about halfway up the length of the room before encountering a problem. A group of the 'Hero' class Risen had moved closer, dragging their feet as they did, muttering under their breath remarks of "...Must kill- E-Exalt...." as they seemed to almost somewhat know Lucina was there. The girl held her breath as the muttered it, trying not to let out a breath as she was- Understandably moved by this. They weren't as brain dead as the Lordess had hoped, after being stuck in one area for so long..."...Get your bow ready." Annette said under the hushed tone of a whisper, Lin only nodding in reply.

The Assassin Classed Tactician drew her Bow, aiming it near a seemingly weak point in the floor. The arrow hit, making an audible 'woosh' as it flew through the air, causing the tiles to seem to crumble a bit. The 'Hero' Risen seemed to notice, now drawing their attention to it, as they stepped on, the floor broke it's supports, causing a majority of the wandering Risen to fall as the floor crumbled beneath them.

From a far off corner from the room, a crashing sound vibrating throughout the room, echoing to the main area. The already tension filled air seemed to just increase as it was heard. Hopefully more of the roof wouldn't fall, would it? They hoped.

Putting away her Bow, Lin and Annette moved farther along the bottom of the room to the right side, They would enter the tunnels opposite of the others, Hopefully being able to sneak into the tunnel more efficiently.

The main grouped moved again, getting to about Two Thirds of their ways to the tunnel before the ceiling started to fall apart again- Now closer to the group. The oblivious Risen suddenly heard it, sluggishly moving straight for the group at hand.

Annette and Lin jumped out of cover, the later suddenly firing off Arrows at Risen in any direction she could find. Annette ran forwards to Lucina, ready to help her defend the group.

“Bet you couldn't be any happier to get any help right now!” the redhead exclaimed, sweeping a Risen Archer to his feet.

“Hah! Just focus on stopping these Risen Annette, before gloating!” Lucina called back, thrusting Falchion into the air, a strange aura emitting from it.

“I say when it ends!” She shouted out, Slashing into the Risen Barbarian, slicing him into two whole bits, green ooze on her sword.

The ceiling got even more unstable, pieces now suddenly falling at seemingly random, Risen getting slammed with the marble pieces shattering down.

“Lin, stop firing for a minute, and get over here!” Annette exclaimed, the Assassin now swapping out her bow for a Brave Sword, suddenly slashing through the masses of Risen, until meeting back up with the two.

“Everyone's in, let's get out of here!” Lucina yelled over the clashing marble pieces, the three now running off to get t the staircase.

A chunk of the ceiling immediately smashed in front of them, blocking their path. Hordes of Risen right behind them.

“Lin, try to figure out a way through!” the Redhead called to Lin, the Tactician smiling. Time to tip the scales! She glanced at the blocked off path- They might be able to clear it if all three of them moved it- But Lucina and Annette were holding off their enemies. Gods, what to do, What to-

Her eyes seemed to shine as she looked up, seeing the nearest pillar almost ready to break off, aiming an arrow she fired- Miraculously hitting it just so in a way the pillar broke loose, falling over and smashing- Most of the Risen. The resulting smash lowered the stability even more, debris falling naerly constantly, and the floor rupturing from the other end of the room.

“Guys, push on the marble!” Lin yelled to the other two, them now quickly pushing it- Making it fall down the steps by the throne. The trio ran down the staircase, a large piece of debris blocking off the passage a minute or so after they made it through, sealing them in.

--

A Day Later.

Due North of the city, a small encampment was set up in the forest nearby, the survivors of the castle event gathered. They lost only one or two people- Surprising, considering how chaotic it all had been.

“...I assume you two will be leaving?”

“Yeah Luc, don't worry about us, we'll go try to find a functional Outrealm Gate for us... And run into the others, hopefully we'll all be able to see our families again soon.”